# "Perfect" television shows **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [April 22, 2025, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-television-shows/1017366 "2025-04-22T15:42:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-television-shows/1017366/141 "2025-04-23T22:52:30Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > You’re referring to the series with Richard Briers and Felicity Kendall? oh, gosh, I love that series - that couple and Margo from next door are all wonderful characters. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-television-shows/1017366/142 "2025-04-23T23:12:25Z")
> [@Smid](#): > > After this it was a craphole show of the same characters suddenly just arguing with each other over anything and everything. It was clear the new writers really didn’t have any idea how to write it as well as Sorkin, and just defaulted to a template of “here’s an issue, make the characters take opposing views to make their point”. It went from a whitehouse of friends to one of enemies and it was horrible to watch. > > I don’t think I made it past middle of Season 6 and I had slept through about half of that seasons episodes. While I agree with you completely about Season 5, you picked exactly the wrong time to quit. Mid-way through Season 6, the show shifted much of its focus on the election campaign to replace Bartlett, introducing a bunch of new characters and injecting much-needed energy and novelty to the show. It never got as good as the first few seasons, and there were still some clunker episodes, but it became a fun series again. ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-television-shows/1017366/143 "2025-04-23T23:14:25Z")
Interesting, that was just about when I tuned out, I’d been watching about one every three months at that point.. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-television-shows/1017366/144 "2025-04-23T23:18:30Z")
Also, the cool thing about it was that it set an Obama-like candidate played by Jimmy Smits against a McCain-like candidate played by Alan Alda, 3 years before the 2008 elections. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-television-shows/1017366/145 "2025-04-23T23:25:29Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > Fifty-plus replies and no one has mentioned _The Wire_, the greatest TV show ever made? [Sheeeeeee-ittttt!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-ykugiRKyM) I realize this is all personal preference, but I think The Wire is over-rated. Emperor’s new clothes and all. And yep, I watched all of the seasons. By the way, that actor did that same Sheeeeeee-ittttt! schtick in the movie 24 Hours. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-television-shows/1017366/146 "2025-04-23T23:46:03Z")
Very true, but the biggest factor was the budget being cut drastically. In the third season, it was only one half-hour episode a week, filmed in studios with sets that looked like cardboard cutouts. The stories really sucked too, along with new villains like Olga, Queen of the Cossacks. 🙄 The series ended so abruptly I don’t think I ever even saw the second half of “The Joker’s Flying Saucer.” (My name for that episode.) **Fun Fact:** The Catmobile that Eartha Kitt drove as the new Catwoman was featured in both _ **Bewitched** _ (as the concept car Endora stole and gave to Darrin as a birthday present) and _ **Star Trek** _ (as the Jupiter 8 in “Bread and Circuses”). ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-television-shows/1017366/147 "2025-04-23T23:59:34Z")
“Barry” was tremendous from the first frame to the last. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2025, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-television-shows/1017366/148 "2025-04-24T00:00:24Z")
> [@crazyjoe](#): > > It’s been a long time since I watched, but I don’t remember hating any particular episode of “Dead like me”… The theme song was awesome, too. I quite enjoyed the show, and I agree that no single episode could be disliked. But I’d suggest that the show suffered from George’s inability to separate from her family. Her sister’s habit of decorating trees with toilet seats, and her parents’ impending divorce, were distracting her from Rube’s assignments. I understand that George, being younger than the other Reapers and still living at home when she was alive, would be concerned about home and family; and Rube was pretty forgiving of her faults, but I think that George was overdoing it at times. Oh well. At least Mom and Sis gave J.D. a good home. And some of the deaths were quite inventive. Up until that show, pianos only fell from the sky in cartoons. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2025, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-television-shows/1017366/149 "2025-04-24T00:09:09Z")
> [@JackieLikesVariety](#): > > I love that series - that couple and Margo from next door are all wonderful characters. Margo was played by Penelope Keith, who had been around for years—I noticed her in a couple of B&W episodes of _ **The Avengers** _ filmed in 1964 or '65. Her husband Jerry was played by Paul Eddington, who went on to star in _ **Yes, Minister.** _ ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2025, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-television-shows/1017366/150 "2025-04-24T00:11:34Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > At least Mom and Sis gave J.D. a good home. And some of the deaths were quite inventive. Up until that show, pianos only fell from the sky in cartoons. Was this before or after the finale of _ **Two and a Half Men** _? 🤨 ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2025, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-television-shows/1017366/151 "2025-04-24T00:15:02Z")
Would have been before. The falling piano episode was (IIRC) in 2003. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2025, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-television-shows/1017366/152 "2025-04-24T00:19:41Z")
So that set the precedent for every falling piano in the future! 😁 ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2025, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-television-shows/1017366/153 "2025-04-24T00:30:53Z")
_Dead Like Me_ was noted for the “inventive” ways in which the Reapers’ clients died. George’s team was not assigned to hospitals, nursing homes, or deathbeds where it was only a matter of time; rather, her team was assigned to the really odd accidents—George herself was killed by a toilet seat that fell from the Mir space station, and one of the other members of her team killed himself by getting high and taking a power drill to his head. Death is not funny; it is tragic, but the show has many lighter moments. It has to, when dealing with such a subject, and the crazy ways the Reapers’ clients die helps with those. I’d recommend the show. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2025, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-television-shows/1017366/154 "2025-04-24T00:45:15Z")
> [@epbrown](#): > > Since people have mentioned “West Wing” I’ll go with an unsung Aaron Sorkin show: “Sports Night.” I like it even more than “The Newsroom,” which deserves a mention if only for the “Why is America the greatest country in the world” scene. It amazes me that some people **still** hotly debate that, and I mean I literally saw posts _today_ telling someone to move to Russia if they think America is so awful. This reminds me that a friend had recommended “Sports Night” to me when it was on the air; we were both big fans of “West Wing” and he thought I would also like “Sports Night”. I reminded him that I was not a sports fan, and he said that didn’t matter because you didn’t have to know anything about sports to be able to follow it. I never did get around to watching it; I’ll have to add it to my list of shows to track down. ---
**Author:** ![Jaycat.again](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat.again/32/11525_2.png) [@Jaycat.again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaycat.again)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2025, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-television-shows/1017366/155 "2025-04-24T00:49:54Z")
If you like **The Rockford Files** (which I do), then it’s perfect, because every episode is pretty much the same. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2025, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-television-shows/1017366/156 "2025-04-24T02:04:13Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Much as I would like to include **Fargo** , the casting of Chris Rock in S4 was a poor decision. But seasons one through three were brilliant. Season 5 was very good, too. Maybe not quite as good as season 3, but pretty close. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2025, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-television-shows/1017366/157 "2025-04-24T02:14:21Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Even tried Hill Street Blues recently - hard to get over how dated it was. Not limited to the attitude towards women. But didn’t make it past the pilot. Wtf? The OP wrote: > What shows do you consider **to have been** perfect? > (Bolding mine) > It was excellent and groundbreaking _in its day_. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2025, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-television-shows/1017366/158 "2025-04-24T02:27:22Z")
I thought Bojack was a generic adult cartoon until The Telescope, but was excellent afterwards until the end. Is 5.5/6 seasons enough to knock it out of perfect? Well, yeah. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2025, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-television-shows/1017366/159 "2025-04-24T02:41:42Z")
**Malcolm in the Middle** is my choice out of shows which haven’t been mentioned yet. Every episode was perfectly hilarious. Bryan Cranston pre-Breaking Bad, along with the rest of the cast, were flawless. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2025, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-television-shows/1017366/160 "2025-04-24T02:43:34Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Very true, but the biggest factor was the budget being cut drastically. In the third season, it was only one half-hour episode a week, filmed in studios with sets that looked like cardboard cutouts. The stories really sucked too I will defend the _‘Shame’_ two-parter until the end of my days.🤠 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-television-shows/1017366.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-television-shows/1017366.md?page=9)